Photo by Katie Goss ’23
Alicia Erwin comments on students’ ideas at Senate.
BY KATIE GOSS ’23
Senators within the Student Government Association (SGA) were divided into different working groups during their meeting this week, in an effort to focus on certain aspects of life on campus.
The meeting started with Senators from different organizations and residential halls expressing their concerns, updates and questions. The SGA executive board updated the senators about their lunch with Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall on Thursday, Nov. 14 to talk about any concerns of students and the general well-being on campus. Maha Mapara ’21, SGA treasurer, was also there to give the monthly update of the November budget.
Following the opening routine, senators were then asked to talk amongst their working groups.
Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Involvement Alicia Erwin attended the meeting in order to comment on students’ ideas and to answer any questions the students had about getting more involved in their groups desired topic. She was also there to clarify anything the students needed.
The first group was focused on the dining hall and the question of if to-go containers will be made available to students. After reaching out to the dining hall, it was said that costs were too high to introduce to-go containers.
Suggestions were brought up from other groups, including only having to-go containers for certain stations.
Another suggestion was to provide reusable containers for a small deposit. Students would be able to return the container and get their money back at the end of the semester.
The second group focused on a survey to ask what student accessibility means on campus. The senators within the group were in touch with AccessAbility staff in order to improve this survey.
Similarly, the third group was working on a survey focused on student financial stability. Their goal was to get the survey approved and send it out to students so they could gather information about students’ financial data, including certain aspects such as socioeconomic status and race.
The senators involved in the environmental sustainability group are currently working on collecting statements to declare a state of climate emergency on campus. They are in the process of asking the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass) for a copy of their statement to use as a model. The eventual hope of this is to get all of the Five Colleges to ratify the declaration.
Another group was planning a flea market for February.
One group worked on campus safety, specifically setting up a meeting with campus police to ask questions and talk about procedures.
These groups will continue to work on their individual projects over the coming weeks. Senate meetings are held every Tuesday in the Great Room in Blanchard Community Center, beginning at 7:30 p.m.